Choose Installation Method

Pentaho Data Integration (PDI) has one design tool, the PDI client (formerly known as Spoon), several PDI utilities, and many plugins. There are two methods by which you can install these components: the Pentaho Business Analytics Installation Wizard or a manual installation. Review the table to determine which method is best for you.

Make sure your users can write to the directory where you install the Pentaho Suite.

PDI Design Tools and Plugins Installation Decision Table

Pentaho Installation Wizard

Manual Installation

Summary

The Pentaho Business Analytics Installation Wizard is the easiest way to install the PDI design tool, utilities, and plugins on the server or client workstations.

Use this method for evaluating the Pentaho Suite or for rapid development.

The manual method allows you to manually copy design tool and plugin installation files to any directory on the server or client workstations.

Use this method for rapid development.

Expertise

Basic computer knowledge.

Basic computer knowledge.

Each method takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Use the Pentaho Installation Wizard to Install the PDI Client, Utilities, and Plugins

The preferred method for installing the PDI client, utilities, and plugins is to use the Pentaho Business Analytics Installation Wizard.

Run the Pentaho Business Analytics Installation Wizard according to the instructions in the Install Pentaho Suite documentation. Be sure to perform the following steps while running the installation wizard.

When the installation wizard is complete, start the tools using one of the following ways:

Linux: Open a Terminal window, then navigate to ~/pentaho/design-tools/ and launch the tool.

Mac: Navigate to the Applications/pentaho/design-tools/ and double-click the file.

Windows: Select the tool you want to start from the Start menu.

Linux users only: You need to install libwebkitgtk-1.0 on your system. For example, if running Ubuntu you can use the command sudo apt-get install libwebkitgtk-1.0-0 to install the library.

Perform a Manual Installation of the PDI Client, Utilities, and Plugins

You can install the PDI client, utilities, and plugins by downloading a .zip file and extracting the installation files for each component. If you have the PDI client already installed, you can download just the plugins via the .zip file or by using the PDI Marketplace in PDI. See Installing PDI Plugins for further details.

Perform the following steps to manually install the PDI client and utilities:

If you are unpacking the file in a non-graphical environment, open a Terminal or Command Prompt window and type java -jar install.jar -console and follow the instructions presented in the window.

Specify where you want the file to be unpacked. This location can be temporary because you will be manually placing the files in the appropriate directories later in these instructions.

Click the Next button. The Installation in Progress window appears.

When the installation progress is complete, click Quit to exit the Unpack Wizard.

Create a directory for your tools and utilities. If you are unsure of what directory to create, we suggest that you create a pentaho directory and design-tools subdirectory on your workstation. If you choose this option, the directory path should look like the example shown below:

pentaho/design-tools

Copy or move the extracted files to the pentaho/design-tools directory. The design tool and utilities appear in the following path:

pentaho/design-tools/data-integration (Spoon, Kitchen, Pan, Carte)

Installing PDI Plugins

If you have the PDI client already installed, you can optionally download just the plugins via the .zip file or by using the PDI Marketplace in PDI.

Perform a Manual Installation of the PDI Plugins

Download the plugin and unzip it in the appropriate subdirectory in pentaho/design-tools/data-integration/plugins. To determine the correct subdirectory, see the instructions for the plugin you are installing.

Visit the PDI Marketplace to Install the PDI Plugins

Start Pentaho Data Integration (PDI).

Select Help > Marketplace. The PDI Marketplace window appears.

The name of the plugin appears in the Detected plugins section of the page. Note which plugins are installed. You can filter the list by typing the name of the plugin in the Detected Plugins text box.

Click the name of the plugin to expand it. Information about the plugin, including the documentation, source code, and support information appears.

Click Install this plugin.

The Progress Information dialog box appears, indicating the operation is in process. When the plugin has been successfully installed, a message appears indicating that you will need to restart your client, which is the PDI client (Spoon).

Click OK.

Restart PDI.

To verify that the plugin was installed, open the PDI Marketplace window again. The plugin should be listed as installed.

The plugin should appear in the logical place in the PDI client interface. For example, if the plugin that you install is the 'CMIS Input' plugin, then it will appear in the Design tab > Output Steps category.

Next Steps

Now that you have installed the PDI client, the utilities, and the plugins, it is now time for you to configure the design tool.